Number of Atopic Dermatitis Flares Linked to Lower QoL, More Severe Disease
Flare severity, duration, and number were among most important predictors of AD severity
By Dermsquared Editorial Team | July 18, 2025
WEDNESDAY, July 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), the self-reported number of flares is predictive of future disease severity and frequency of future flares, according to a study published online July 16 in JAMA Dermatology.
Mia-Louise Nielsen, Ph.D., of the Copenhagen University Hospital-Bispebjerg in Denmark, and colleagues validated the predictability of flares and disease severity in patients with AD and quantified the importance of predictors using the Danish Skin Cohort. In addition, boosted random forests were used to explore predictors of annual flares and disease severity. The study included 878 patients with AD, with 26, 405, 169, and 278 reporting zero, one to five, six to 10, and more than 10 yearly flares, respectively, in 2022.
The researchers observed a significant association between the number of annual flares reported in 2022 and most patient-reported severity measures reported in 2023. The number of annual flares reported in 2022 was significantly associated with the Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure and Dermatology Life Quality Index when adjusting for the Patient-Oriented Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis score at baseline. Flare severity, duration, and number were found to be among the most important predictors of AD severity when using predictive machine learning models, while disease severity was among the strongest predictors of the number of annual flares.
"The current findings suggest that flares might serve as an early indicator of disease progression or inadequate disease control, highlighting that flares could be relevant in clinical decision-making to support optimal treatment strategies," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.